


You'll be in my heart

by not_a_total_basket_case



Series: For one so small (you seem so strong) [1]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Established Relationship, F/M, Family, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-11
Updated: 2018-05-11
Packaged: 2019-05-05 05:59:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14611023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/not_a_total_basket_case/pseuds/not_a_total_basket_case
Summary: Bellamy and Clarke have been together for three years and he still doesn't know what he is to her daughter.Basically just fluff because 5x03 ruined me. And Bellamy deserves all the mugs in the world.





	You'll be in my heart

**Author's Note:**

> Don't talk to me about the title, I watched Tarzan and cried about it today. 
> 
> Posting this on it's own because it has 5x03 spoilers in it, even if it isn't canonverse.

Bellamy has been dating Clarke for a little over three years now and it’s everything he didn’t dare hope for from a relationship with his best friend. And a whole lot more.

They’d always been close, ever since they were kids, but had lost contact during their college years. Bellamy had wanted to reach out to her but had never known how. They’d both moved on with their lives. Contacting her would be weird. 

Somehow, years later, he’d been buying groceries when he literally ran into her. Their initial meeting hadn’t been awkward per se, but it was strange and she had left far quicker than he’d hoped for. He did manage to get her number though and he’d called her and arranged to hang out.

They got to know each other again, growing into their friendship as adults. They got dinner and made their way over to the bar next door. And when Bellamy had gone to make his move, Clarke stopped him and told him about Madi. The little girl she’d been fostering since she was six, who Clarke was in the process of adopting. She told him that Madi was the most important person in her life and that he had to understand that before they went any further.

He did, of course. He’d practically raised his sister – family comes first. He told her as much, leading to her giving him his favourite bright smile, the one he’d missed most over the six years they’d been apart.

 

That was three and a half years ago. It hadn’t taken them long to start dating after that night, not long for him to meet Madi and for them to realise they should have never let college get between them.

Now the three of them live in Clarke’s small house, on the edge of town. He loves Clarke, loves Madi, loves their life together – it’s perfect. Just, even after three years, he’s still not sure where he stands in Madi’s life. Which is what he’s explaining to Clarke as they get ready for bed.

“She called me ‘her Bellamy’ when she introduced me today.” He says, throwing the pillows that Clarke insists makes the bed look better onto the floor.

“Rude, you’re my Bellamy too.” Clarke grins, securing her hair with an elastic and climbing into bed.

“Yeah, but there was a pause,” Bellamy grumbles, climbing in beside her. “Like she didn’t know what to call me. Am I her dad? Your boyfriend?”

“You’re important to her,” Clarke says firmly. “And that matters more than whatever title she uses.”

“I know. That’s what matters to me too,” he sighs, reaching over to plug his phone in. “But I don’t want her to be uncomfortable introducing me to people.”

“I can talk to her about it,” Clarke suggests. “If you want me too.”

“Maybe,” Bellamy says after a moment. “It might be worth telling her that she can call me whatever she’s comfortable with.”

“She knows that,” Clarke smiles softly. “But I’ll remind her.”

*

Madi was eight when Bellamy had met her. She’d been shy at first, wary of Bellamy, but that had quickly changed when she realised that he was the man that featured in Clarke’s stories about her own childhood. The stories she told Madi to calm her down at night when she had first started fostering her. They’d grown close quickly and Bellamy had been overwhelmed with gratification the first night she had come to him for comfort when she’d woken from bad dreams.

They have a great relationship now, Bellamy is happy with how it is. He just wants to know where he stands for her. He knows Clarke is right and the title doesn’t matter. It’s just important to him that she is comfortable.

“Bellamy,” Madi shouts from the bottom of the stairs, shaking him out of his thoughts. He just knows she has her hands on her hips and is probably tapping her foot impatiently. _Pre-teens_ , honestly. “Hurry up! I don’t want to be late.”

“We don’t even need to leave for ten minutes,” Bellamy calls back but grabs his keys and wallet. “But we’ll go now so you can hang out with your friends because that’s clearly the most important thing about soccer practice.”

Madi rolls her eyes at him, reminding him that she’s comfortable enough with their relationship to give him the same attitude she gives Clarke. They’re close. They joke around, she comes to him when she needs help on her homework (unless it’s science) and she trusts him. While her adoption papers may only list Clarke as her parent, they’re a family.

“I want to catch up with everyone before we start,” she whines, tugging his hand and leading him out the front door. “We have a sleepover at Charlotte’s on Friday and I want to check some things.”

He listens to her chat idly on the drive to the school, interjecting whenever she stops long enough to breathe. She’s out of the car before he even turns it off, leaving her soccer bag and shoes on the back seat. He smiles fondly to himself as he reaches over to get her stuff and makes his way to one of the benches on the edge of the field.

Madi jogs back to him just before training starts, barely stopping to grab her shoes and to thank him for grabbing her stuff.

"Have fun!" Bellamy shouts after her, shaking his head a little.

“They’re really full on at this age, aren’t they?” Someone asks, dropping on the bench beside him. “I’m Eric, Liam’s dad.” Bellamy follows his gaze to one of the boys on Madi’s team. He likes the kid, he plays fairly and shares the ball.

“Bellamy,” he says, offering his hand. “I’m Madi’s…” he lets the sentence trail off, wondering if Eric picked up on the way Bellamy ended his sentence or not.

He listens to Eric talk for the rest of practice, learning more about the local law firm than he ever really needed to know and cheering Madi on. He’s only half paying attention though because his thoughts are still on what he is to Madi. Really the best thing to do about it would be to ask her but he doesn’t want to put that pressure on her. It’s not as though he needs her to think of his as a father to feel validated.

“Bell, can we get pizza on the way home?” Madi asks, jolting him out of his thoughts. She’s out of breath, obviously having run across the field again but with a bright smile on her face and big eyes. A look she knows he has no power against.

“Yeah, just send Clarke a message and tell her not to cook,” Bellamy tells her, reaching into his pocket and handing her his phone. He doesn’t miss the questioning look Eric gives him, but he also doesn’t stick around to let him ask. He doesn’t need to explain their relationship to strangers who talk too much.

“Can we get dessert as well?” Madi presses, swinging off his arm on the walk back to the car. This is enough. He doesn’t need anything else.

“Sure,” he tells her fondly - because how can he not?

*

“You’re still worried about this?” Clarke asks, snuggling against him on the couch.

“I’m not _worried_ ,” Bellamy mutters. “The way it is now is good. I’m just worried for her.”

“So you are worried,” Clarke teases, nudging him with her elbow.

“But not for myself,” he insists. “I know I care about her. But when I was her age and my mum had boyfriends, I knew they weren’t going to stick around. I knew even the ones who said they’d stick around wouldn’t. I didn't want to get close to them and when I did, it made it worse when they left.”

“Madi knows you’re not going anywhere, Bellamy,” Clarke tells him. “You’ve never given her any reason to think that of you. You’re her person.”

“I know,” he sighs. “She calls you her mum when she’s not talking to your face. That’s easy for her, that’s official.”

_When the adoption had been finalised, Bellamy had taken Madi to buy Clarke a present. Clarke had insisted it wasn’t necessary, but Madi had wanted to and even then, so early in their relationship, Bellamy couldn’t say no to her. They’d found themselves in a gift shop that was so full of trinkets it was hard to move. Madi had looked around for a good twenty minutes, sorting through shelves and racks of things she thought Clarke might like, before apprehensively approaching Bellamy holding something in her closed fist._

_‘Do you think she’ll like this?’ Madi had asked, dropping a key-ring into his hand. Bellamy’s heart had swelled when he looked down and saw the word ‘mum’ in a spiral script._

_‘I think she’ll love it,’ Bellamy said, concentrating on keeping his voice even._

_Clarke had cried when they gave her the gift that night, immediately attaching it to her keys where it still sits._

“Yeah, I know but she loves you,” Clarke assures him. “Family doesn’t need to be official. Look at your sister and Niylah and Ethan.”

Bellamy sighs, knowing that Clarke’s right and he has no argument against this. Octavia and Niylah had only been together about a month when they had been given custody of Ethan by Niylah’s estranged uncle. And aside from his own, Bellamy has never seen a happier family.

“What are you doing up, Mads?” Clarke calls suddenly. Bellamy follows her gaze to where Madi is standing at the foot of the stairs.

“I had a bad dream,” she says softly. Bellamy is off the couch and heading for her before Clarke has time to react. He wraps an arm around Madi and leads her back up the stairs, glancing back to see Clarke smiling softly at them. And yeah, a family doesn’t need to be official. He’s got all the proof he needs for that.

“Want to talk about it?” He asks, switching her bedside light on and watching her climb back into bed.

“No and I don't need that on,” Madi grumbles, tugging the sheets up to her chin and sighing. “I’m too old to be scared of the dark.”

“Can I tell you a secret?” Bellamy whispers, sitting on the bed beside her. “I still don’t like the dark.”

“You don’t?” Madi asks, settling down into her bed with awe on her face.

“I don’t,” he confirms solemnly. It's half true. He's not a fan of the dark but it doesn't' scare him like it did when he was a kid. “But it’s okay to be afraid. Everyone is scared of something. It’s not a weakness. And being able to admit your scared is one of the bravest things you can do.”

“How come?” Madi asks, already sleepy again.

“If you acknowledge it, your people around you can help you deal with it,” he tells her. “Don’t let it overcome you.”

“Clarke does say you’re dramatic,” Madi giggles and then dissolves into laughter as Bellamy tickles her in retaliation.

“That’s rich, coming from her,” he says when he lets up. “Do you want a story tonight?”

Madi nods and Bellamy tells her about the time he and Clarke had climbed Mt Weather just to watch the sunset, the day before they both went off to college. He tells Madi about how he was in love with her even then, because Madi loves love stories and because it’s the truth. He tells her how Clarke had tried to race him down and ended up tripping, twisting her ankle. How he had to carry her down and had relentlessly teased her about having to move with an injury the next day. He skips over the bit where they’d almost kissed because Madi covers her eyes when they do it now, she’s not going to want it in her bedtime story.

She’s asleep by the time he finishes and he slips out of the room quietly, leaving her lamp on and smiling fondly as he pulls the door closed. Madi is his family, that’s all that matters.

*

“Can you pick Madi up today?” Clarke asks him, leaning on the doorway of the study. She’s wearing a paint-stained shirt and leggings, so he assumes she’s going to work on something that she will get lost in.

“Yeah, just from school?” He asks, using the conversation as an excuse to shut his laptop. He’s not getting any work done anyway.

“Obviously,” Clarke says, rolling her eyes.

Bellamy glares at Clarke, who just grins back at him, turning on her heel and leaving the room. Once he can safely hear her upstairs, he pulls the draw of his desk open and stares at the little box he’s hidden. It contains the ring he wants to give to Clarke when he asks her to marry him. He's going to talk to Madi about it first, just to confirm she’s a hundred percent okay with it. He’s not really worried, but she deserves to be included in the decision. He wants her to be.

After school today is as good a time as any to ask her.

*

She bounds up to the car when she spots him, climbing over to give him a hug.

“Nice to see you too,” he greets. “How was school?”

“It was alright,” she shrugs. “Charlotte and I finished our project for English.”

“Good job. Do you want to get ice-cream?” He asks, glancing over at her.

“That’s a dumb question,” she grins. “Of course.”

Bellamy lets Madi get two scoops and then leads the way down the path. He’s half listening to her chat and half wondering how to bring up the question when she stops suddenly.

“Oh. I have something for you,” she says suddenly. It sounds both casual and deliberate as though she rehearsed it, so Bellamy turns to her curiously. She’s got her hand in her coat pocket but pulls it out when he catches her eye and thrusts something at him. “We made these in art class. I wanted to make mine for you.”

He looks down at what she’s pressed into his hand and smiles when he realises it’s a mug she’s painted. He turns it over carefully, noticing the rocket and stars she’s drawn (she loves space, in summer they lie in the backyard and he tells her about the constellations) and freezes when he sees the words. _Best dad in the universe_.

“Madi,” Bellamy says quietly, feeling his eyes well up. “This is amazing.”

“Clarke told me the other day that you weren’t sure if you were my dad,” Madi says, quickly. “She asked if I thought you were. And I do. You are.”

“Thank you,” he manages, keeping his voice steady. She wraps her arms around his waist and he uses that time to take a moment to compose himself. He loved her anyway, but here she is, his daughter. It's another thing he wanted but didn't dare hope for. 

“Love you, Bellamy,” she mumbles. It’s not the first time she has said it, but it’s his favourite time.

“I love you too, Madi,” Bellamy smiles. “What would you say about me making your mum my wife?”

“Are you serious?” She squeals, pulling away and grinning at him. “Yes!”

**Author's Note:**

> Y’all, I haven’t played soccer since I was 12. 
> 
> Fun fact, Eric (wasn’t going for Jackson, but now that I think about it, that would be cute) is the first name of the actor who plays Sgt Lovejoy and Liam is the first name of the actor who plays his kid. 
> 
> Comments and kudos give me life! <3 
> 
> Raven Reyes of sunshine on Tumblr!


End file.
